Toast almonds in a wide frying pan until browned (I was thrilled to see that Trader Joe's now sells dry toasted slivered almonds, which saved time and meant I didn't have to pick out the small pieces that inevitably burn when I toast them myself). Cool. Using a food processor fitted with a steel blade process garlic, onion and mushrooms with on and off bursts until finely chopped. Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, onion, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally until almost all the liquid has evaporated (this takes quite a while -- the drier you can get it, the firmer your pate will be -- I cooked it until the mixture was wet but no liquid drained out when I stirred it). Process almonds until coarsely chopped. Remove 2 tablespoons almonds and set aside. Process remaining nuts to form a paste. With the processor running, pour olive oil down feed tube and process until creamy. Add mushroom mixture and process until pate is smooth. Add remaining almonds and blend with 2 bursts. At this point I decided to add some white truffle oil -- I used about 2 tsp., which didn't give it a pronounced truffle flavor but did give it more depth and complexity. If I were feeling more daring (rather than wanting to be sure I didn't ruin my picnic dish) I'd add maybe twice as much. Spoon into bowl for serving, cover and chill -- it's better made 24 hours in advance so the flavors have time to blend together and it firms up a little. Makes 2 cups.

Someone asked if it was vegan -- you could probably make it vegan by substituting a mild olive oil for the butter. If I were doing that I'd increase the almonds slightly, since the fact that butter is solid at room temperature helps give the pate some body.

This works great with walnuts in place of almonds as well. We've been eating it for years, and strangely liver lovers, liver haters, and mushroom haters all love it. I don't remember for sure, but I think I did it with olive oil instead of butter.

Ok, I just checked with my source for everything home cooking (Mom Dega) and she says olive oil. So, no eggs, and totally vegan.

Mom Dega's other nom de food is Challah. And Lo's right.Nearly everyone loves that recipe. It's basically even amounts of sauteed onions, mushrooms and walnuts. You can toast the walnuts for extra flavor. I use olive oil for frying the onions and mushrooms. A little salt and a few grinds of black pepper and a tablespoon of water if it's too thick. Delicious.

Yeah, you can put me on the list of people who hate liver and mushrooms and love this dish. My Mom thinks it's hysterical that although I loathe mushrooms in almost every other form, this is one of my old favorites.